DATA AND PUBLIC REPORTS

EDUCATION

 2007

Doctor of Philosophy
Political Science

UNIVERSITY OF NORTH TEXAS

BOOKS

2020

HUMAN RELATIONS COMMISSIONS: RELIEVING RACIAL TENSIONS IN THE AMERICAN CITY. (with Valerie Martinez Ebers) Columbia University Press. (Lead Author)

BOOKS

2018

Muslims, Identity, and American Politics. Routledge

2017

A Matter of Discretion: The Politics of Catholic Priests in the US and Ireland. (with Elizabeth Oldmixon and Melissa Michelson) Rowman and Littlefield (Lead Author)

2014

Assessing MENA Political Reform: Mediators and Microfoundations. Lexington Books (Editor)

2013

God Talk: Experimenting with the Religious Causes of Public Opinion. (with Paul A. Djupe) Temple University Press

REPORTING/ANCHORING

GRANTS

My research has been supported by grants from: 

• The National Science Foundation

• The Scripps Howard Foundation

• The American Political Science Association 

• The Religious Research Association

• The Kayal Fund for Arab American Research

• The Society for the Scientific Study of Religion

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AWARDS
 

• First Place Award for Opinion/Commentary from the Missouri Broadcasters Association in 2020.

• Research award from the Broadcast Educator Association in 2017.

• Four Certificates of Merit from the Missouri Broadcasters Association in 2018, 2019, 2020 for my work in television news

Invited research talks at:
 

• Notre Dame

• University of Florida

• University of Manchester

• Texas Christian University 

• VoteNet/eBallot

• Institute for Social Policy and Understanding   

REVIEWS

God Talk provides a rich account of how religion shapes candidate and policy preferences. Through carefully constructed, executed, and analyzed experiments, the authors provide a more precise explanation of how religion is politically consequential.... God Talk offers one of the most thorough accounts of how religion functions in contemporary American politics, particularly in the context of political communication. The authors describe the bounds of elite influence, and they generate a more psychologically informed description of how religious labels serve as social identities. The book is an important read for those interested in the dynamics of public opinion and attitude change.

—Public Opinion Quarterly

At a time when events in the MENA region change on an almost daily basis, [Assessing MENA Political Reform, Post-Arab Spring] will help the reader or researcher to understand the impact of Arab Spring on continuing events in MENA, including the conflicts in Syria, Iraq and Yemen. The research used by the authors is well presented and documented. The writers have used a variety of sources including social and political theory, as well as public opinion polls and surveys to present quantitatively the opinions of the people. . . .This book is a necessary read for the Middle East political observer especially as so many questions remain on the table from the ongoing wars and negotiations, the Iran nuclear issues, and the Israel-Palestine problem. 

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—International Social Science Review

[A Matter of Discretion] is a welcome and important addition to several literatures. The volume combines a rigorous and creative multimethod research design with a sophisticated understanding of Catholic doctrine and social teaching and a nuanced understanding of two distinctive political cultures. This work will serve as an invaluable resource for scholars working in several diverse theoretical traditions.

— Ted G. Jelen, University of Nevada, Las Vegas

Calfano’s [Muslims, Identity, and American Politics] provides a thoughtful and nuanced picture of Muslim experiences in the United States. This is a timely contribution to our understanding of Muslim identity formation, with important implications for political attitudes and behavior. An essential read for scholars in the field as well as everyday Americans looking for insight on this understudied community. 

— Rachel Gillum, Stanford University